People often encounter great difficulty in marking trails when traveling in unfamiliar wooded areas or the like. The problem is particularly aggravated in the case of young or inexperienced individuals and/or those who have a poor sense of direction. Consequently, many people have become hopelessly lost because they failed to mark their trail and/or become totally confused in their sense of direction.
Heretofore, people traveling by foot relied on their sense of direction and/or memory (i.e. dead reckoning) when traveling over a trail in unfamiliar surroundings. Others have resorted to marking trails by breaking tree branches and/or setting up various signs by utilizing the natural materials found at hand, such as stones, branches, tree trunks and the like. However, the use of such natural material for marking trails frequently did not constitute a positive identification as such signs quickly lost their identity in the wilderness. Also such signs are easily overlooked, misunderstood or lost in their natural surroundings. Therefore, even though one attempted to mark trails by using the natural materials at hand, it did not assure such persons from becoming lost. The problem is even more aggravated if a hiker or camper planned an extensive trip into unknown wilderness, as for example, for several days, as the natural signs used for trail marking would tend to soon disappear, wash away or be altered by an animal or subsequent passer by. Thus, the natural materials heretofore utilized to mark a trail, at best, had only limited duration, and did not constitute a positive and lasting means to permanently mark a trail.
Hunters, hikers, explorers and participants in other outdoor activities often need or would like to know where they are or where they have been in a forest or other outdoor area. A hunter, for example, would like to be able to find his way back to a choice hunting location. He may want to let another hunter, who is to join him later, know where he is and what path he followed. A hunter may need to leave harvested game or equipment temporarily to obtain help to carry the game or equipment away, in which case, he needs to be able to find his way back to the spot of the kill relatively quickly.
Finding one's way outdoors traditionally is accomplished with the help of distinctive landmarks, such as a particular rock, a stream or an unusual tree. However, this can be very difficult if one is not familiar with the surrounding environment, or distinctive landmarks are lacking. Outdoor location identification is particularly difficult in the night, when natural landmarks are not easily visible due to low ambient light levels or are altered in appearance by shadows. Thus, hunters and outdoor sportsman will often mark their trail as they proceed to or from a particular location. The marked trail can easily be followed to/from the location by the sportsman at a later date or by others who follow.
A variety of devices and methods are known for marking trails outdoors. Typically, such methods involve placing permanent or removable marks or monuments on the ground, trees or other objects, or leaving a trail of markers on or in the ground, trees, etc. Reflective trail markers have become popular because they provide an inexpensive, easy method of marking trails and are highly visible at night when a light source is shined on them. Pieces of reflective tape, for example, are used to mark trails by placing the tape on trees or objects, but such tapes are often not easily securely applied and removed.
One type of reflective trail marker currently on the market resembles a thumbtack having a head, which is coated with a reflective coating, such as reflective paint. Such a marker can be pressed into a tree's bark easily with one hand. The ability to place a trail marker with only one hand is an important advantage, with one's hands usually occupied with other equipment or accessories when participating in outdoor activities. A series of such markers pressed into trees forms an easily visible trail. The reflective markers are made highly visible in the dark from a distance by shining light, e.g., a flashlight, onto them. However, the heads of these reflective markers are substantially flat, or form only a slight convex curvature. Thus, a light source must shine onto the head from a direction nearly perpendicular to the plane of the head for the reflected light to be visible to a person located at the light source. Also, such tacks can be difficult to remove from the trees or other structures in which they are placed. When employed on frequently used trails, such tacks can accumulate over time, by virtue of their being difficult to remove, and become an environmental eyesore or a misleading/distractive nuisance. Ornamental designs for similarly constructed trail markers are illustrated in U.S. Des. Pat. D445,710 to Lewis and U.S. Des. Pat. D357,428 to Lovelace.
Another reflective trail marker currently on the market resembles a tack having a cylindrical head, with the pin portion of the tack extending from one end of the cylinder. This type of trail marker is more easily placed in and removed from trees and other structures than the above described “thumbtack-type” marker. A reflective coating, of tape or paint, is placed substantially entirely about the cylindrical head. Such a reflective head reflects source light directly shined onto it from any angle (360° reflection). However, for any particular angle of incident source light, the actual reflective area can be effectively very small. Therefore, the reflective marker's effective reflective distance is always relatively short. Moreover, since the reflective head reflects source light shined onto it from any angle, a trail formed by such markers can be easily detected by shining a source light in the general area of the trail. This can be a disadvantage in some cases, such as where the person marking the trail (such as a choice hunting or fishing spot) wishes to keep the trail secret, and thus minimize the possibility of others discovering the trail. Reflective trail markers which reflect light in all directions (360° reflection) can also cause confusion in areas which are marked with several trails. A person shining a light into a forest with several trails marked with such (360° reflection) markers may simultaneously see reflections from markers belonging to different trails, making it difficult to discern the desired trail to be followed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,379 to Lewis describes a trail marker having a generally “hour-glass” shaped marker head characterized by a central portion which is straddled by opposed end portions. The central portion of the marker head has one or more sidewall surfaces, which are light reflective. The sidewall surfaces of the marker head may be formed of a reflective material, or may be made reflective by applying reflective paint or tape thereto. The central portion of the marker head is formed to define four flat reflective sidewall surfaces at right angles to each other. This shape is characterized as enhancing the reflective surface area of the central portion of the marker head. The top and bottom cap portions of the marker head are non reflective, and extend beyond the sidewalls of the central portion. The non-reflective cap portions are stated to prevent illumination of and reflection from the central portion of the marker head at angles varying substantially from perpendicular to the reflective sidewall surfaces of the central portion along the axis of the central portion. A pin extends from one end of the marker head, to enable attachment of the marker to a support member, such as a tree.
The forgoing trail marker approaches, although having potential limited utility, all have shortcomings, in that they inherently reveal themselves to passers by, reflecting light emanating from any artificial or natural (i.e. sun, moon, lightening, etc.) source which happens to be fortuitously positioned with respect to the observer. This problem is particularly acute in environments, such as thickly grown forests, that contain few, if any, naturally occurring reflective surfaces. In such a situation, a reflected light in the distance naturally draws (unwanted) attention.
Another class of trail markers art is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,482 to Ryder and U.S. Patent Application Publication No.: 2002/0152948 to Percle. These devices typically employ a flexible, elongated member and means for fastening one end of the member to a fixed object such as a tree branch. Such markers can be brightly colored and tend to move with air currents to draw attention from any direction. Although inexpensive and easily attached, these markers are only visible with sufficient ambient light. Hours of dawn and dusk tend to create deep shadows, which can obscure or hide this type of marker. The use of such markers in a camouflage motif is also known for more clandestine applications. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,286 to Baxter et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,111 to Gibson and U.S. Patent Application Publications 2004/0016786 to Banda, 2004/0206294 to Cavanaugh and 2005/0006423 to Kjeldsen each disclose a trail marking device including an elongated roll of brightly colored and/or reflective material which, in application, is carried by the trail blazer, who periodically severs a short length of the material and secures it at a waypoint along his trail.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,327 to Beebe describes a trail marking kit including a plurality of reusable colored tags which are made of special biodegradable material. Each tag contains means for attachment to a tree limb or the like to visually mark the trail to allow the user to return to his original destination by visually following the markers. The markers are sized for spacing of 100 or more yards there between, depending upon the density of the vegetation. Upon returning from the hike or journey, the user simply dislodges the previously placed markers from their respective fixed locations. After returning to the origin of the hike, the user will have retrieved all of the markers which may be reused at a later date. Alternately, if the used desires to mark a permanent or semi-permanent trail, the markers may be left in place for future hikes depending upon the user's intent and nature of the terrain. The use of biodegradable material allows the user to disregard markers which are not retrieved or are lost. They will simply biodegrade over time and disappear without any adverse environmental impact.
All of the forgoing prior art approaches require the user to pause at each waypoint and to study the terrain in order to locate the next waypoint. Although this may be easy in bright daylight and in open terrain, the onset of darkness and/or heavy undergrowth can make this more difficult. In low light conditions, the user must carry a light source (e.g. flashlight) and continuously scan its beam back and forth in his field of view in order to locate his next waypoint. This can be difficult when also carrying other equipment, a weapon and/or captured game. Furthermore, if the flashlight is inadvertently lost, damaged or its batteries fail, the upcoming trail markings are of little value. Lastly, the need to continuously scan a flashlight beam off into the distance in darkened terrain while walking an unknown trail can distract the attention of the user from upcoming snags, overhanging branches, obstacles and unseen hazards.
Electronic based navigation devices have largely supplanted the above-described devices, particularly in regards to vehicle (ground vehicle, boat, aircraft, etc.) related navigation. Satellite based global positioning systems (GPS) are extremely accurate and can be easily employed to pinpoint an object or individual anywhere on earth. Portable, hand-held GPS systems have recently become available which are suitable for hunters, hikers and the like. The major disadvantage of electronic based navigation devices is still size (difficult to fit in a pocket) and power requirements. Extra batteries and/or a power generator are required for extended treks in remote areas. In addition, such equipment tends to be fragile and can easily be damaged by rough handling or the egress of moisture or contaminates. Lastly, cost and complexity of operation can render known electronic based navigation devices prohibitive for many individuals and applications. Even a trained user must regularly divert his attention to the display and mentally calculate the coordinates of the next waypoint. This can be distracting and dangerous when walking in irregular, darkened and unknown terrain.
What is needed is an extremely compact and inexpensive trail marking apparatus that is robust, is simple to use (i.e. is “hands free”), has minimal electrical power requirements and can be employed in both clandestine and open trail/location marking modes.